The Mellotron Group

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, NormLeete@... wrote:
>
>  
> In a message dated 03/12/2007 00:35:28 GMT Standard Time,  
> rick@... writes:
> 
> 
> Any  of you ever had this on a tron: mechanical whine when playing a
key?The  
> pinchroller of the key is rolling perfectly,and the tape makes no
contact  
> with the tape guides,as far as I can tell.This mechanical artifact
comes  thru 
> on the audio output for some reason.Any  ideas?
> 
> 
> 
> My old EMI used to squeak on one note. This was caused by the pad
arm being  
> bent incorrectly or by a gorilla adjusting it.
>  
> Squeak was removed during the Streetly rebuild along with a whole
load of  
> other problems.
>  

Mine had a couple of notes which made squeaking and scraping noises at
the start of the note, caused for some reason by said tapes dragging
on the stainless steel rod in front of the guide comb just before the
heads. After attempting to clean and polish that and still getting the
same problem, my (temporary and not recommended!) way around it was to
stick a long piece of material to the steel rod to reduce the friction
of the tape against the rod, which cured the squeak/drag/scraping
noise, but I'm sure that in the long run it must cause heavier wear on
the tapes (as well as encouraging oxide to deposit on the material),
so it's most definitely *not* a long-term solution!

When I get my M400 restored by Streetly (saving the pennies for this
now), I'm aiming to have the modification included which replaces the
steel rod with rollers. That'll sort that problem out once and for all.


Tony S